Tag: nurse experts

Retained Surgical Items

The stories are frequent enough; surgical sponge left inside patient. Surgeon leaves forceps in abdomen. 3 foot guide wire found in patients’ chest. Retained surgical items can include sponges, towels, medical device components, surgical instruments, needles, scalpel blades and entire instruments.

They can be discovered months or even years after the initial procedure and cause significant morbidity, serious infection and mortality. The risk is higher for obese patients, during abdominal surgery and lengthy operations involving multiple surgical teams. The risk for retained items is 9-fold higher during emergency surgeries and 4-fold higher when an unexpected change of procedure takes place.

NursesPushingStretcher-small

ER Triage Explained

NursesPushingStretcher-smallIt is a busy Monday night in the emergency department.  You’ve arrived with your 2 year old child. You cannot get in to see your family doctor and she’s got a fever of 39.5 C, a sore throat and an earache.Your daughter’s crying and miserable. There is a long line up at triage. Eventually you are seen and assessed by a triage nurse and then sent to the waiting room. The waiting room is packed, your child is miserable and you are wondering how long are you going to have to wait for?

The Role of the Expert Witness in Medical Malpractice Litigation

When a medical malpractice lawsuit occurs, the hospital and all members of the health care team may be named as defendants. This might include the nurses, physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives, ambulance attendants, laboratory technicians, respiratory therapists, nursing and medical students and contracted hospital employees who provided care. Both the plaintiff and defense lawyers may then be required to retain experts from each of the defendant disciplines to provide expert opinion. Although there is no obligation for health care professionals to take on this role, you may be considering it. Many regulatory bodies endorse the professional responsibility to do so. This article will help you learn more about the role and responsibilities of the expert witness.

Leveling the Legal Playing Field

Two years ago, at a conference in Atlanta, a woman from Jamaica excitedly approached me when she learned that my company provided experts for medical malpractice cases. She had been searching for resources to help in her efforts to support victims of medical malpractice in her home country. She shared multiple stories of negligence that were almost unimaginable and confided that although many Jamaican doctors were educated to North American standards, their underfunded, undersupplied and poorly managed public health-care system was struggling greatly, leaving too many patients injured as a result. There was little recourse for injured patients and minimal accountability for health-care providers.

Acquired Brain Injury – Care and Management of Traumatic Brain Injury Part 3

 

This white paper is the third of three parts on the complex functions of brain, what happens when an injury is acquired and how to care for and manage a life-changing brain injury.

BY LINDA SIMMONS, RN BScN
Consultant and Cost of Future Care Expert, Connect Medical Legal Experts

The prehospital care of a patient with a brain injury has a profound impact on the subsequent course of events and outcomes. Prehospital management refers to the initial resuscitation and interventions that stabilize the patient at the scene of the accident and on route to the hospital. Prehospital management requires timely and effective brain resuscitation, as the brain only has minimal reserves to meet ongoing metabolic needs. If resuscitation is insufficient because of reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF) and decreased oxygen delivery, ischemia and hypoxia develop and can lead to secondary brain injury.

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